How to Clean Xiaomi of Garbage: The Complete Guide

Many users are faced with a situation where the once-fast flagship device begins to hang, and notifications of space shortages appear more often, a natural process of operation, as the MIUI operating system and HyperOS actively accumulate temporary data to speed up the application, but over time this data turns into digital junk, which takes up gigabytes and slows the response of the interface.

Before looking for third-party cleaning software, it’s worth evaluating the built-in tools. Xiaomi’s system is initially equipped with powerful maintenance mechanisms that are often ignored in favor of questionable apps from the Play Market. Proper cleaning allows you to free up a significant amount of memory without losing personal photos or contacts.

In this article, we will discuss how to clean Xiaomi of garbage using only system capabilities and proven methods. You will learn to distinguish important system files from useless cache and you will be able to safely remove unnecessary remnants of remote programs. A competent approach to memory maintenance prolongs the life of your device’s drive.

Use of the built-in "Security" application

The first and most reliable tool for maintenance is the standard Security app, which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices and has access to system partitions where third-party utilities do not go.

The system will automatically analyze the contents of internal memory and detect temporary files, remnants of APK installers and advertising debris. It is important to understand that the scanning algorithm in MIUI is configured aggressively, so it finds even files that other analyzers may miss, the process takes from 10 to 30 seconds depending on the volume of the drive.

⚠️ Warning: Do not click the "Clean All" button without checking the list of found garbage. Sometimes the "Recommended" category includes cached messenger data that you may want to save.

Once you've finished scanning, you'll see a detailed report on categories, where you can manually deselect from items that you don't need to delete, like a map cache or offline navigation, which can weigh a lot, but it's necessary for a navigator to run fast without the Internet.

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Run a standard cleanup through the Security app at least once a week to prevent critical memory filling and system slowdowns.

Deep cleaning through the Warehouse menu

For more detailed control of occupied space, you should go to the system settings menu. Settings path → About phone → Storage gives access to the visualization of occupied space. Here you can see the data distribution diagram, which allows you to quickly find the "eaters" of memory.

This section includes Cleanup, which works a little differently than in a security application, and focuses on large files, duplicates, and rarely used applications, and suggests removing installation packages that are already installed but have their installers in memory.

The Other section is worth noting, and users often see a huge amount of data and don't know what to do, including system process data, game cache and temporary update files, and cleaning this section through the standard menu is safe, but may require re-authorization in some applications.

Use size-sorting to identify the apps that occupy the most space, and it often turns out that instant messengers like Telegram or WhatsApp take up tens of gigabytes because of the automatic storage of all the media files viewed.

Cleaning cache and data of specific applications

Social networks and instant messengers generate the most garbage. To clean Xiaomi of garbage effectively, you need to work with each heavy application separately. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications and choose the desired program, for example, Viber or Instagram.

In the app menu, you'll find two important buttons: Clear cache and Clear data. The first one deletes temporary files (pictures, previews) without affecting your logins and settings. The second button completely resets the app to just installed, removing correspondence and authorization.

• 🗑️ Cache Clearing: Safely frees up space, it is recommended to do it regularly for browsers and social networks.
• 💾 Cleansing up data: deletes everything, only use if you want to completely reinstall the application without deleting it APK-file.
• 📁 File management: Some applications (e.g. Telegram) have built-in cache cleaning that is more flexible than the system.

Pay special attention to browsers. Chrome, Mi Browser, and others accumulate gigabytes of cache over months of use, and their in-app settings often include a “Clear History” feature that allows you to select a time period, such as “All Time.”

Removal of residual files and duplicates

When you delete applications in Android, and in MIUI in particular, there are often folders with settings and temporary files. To find them, open the Explorer (Files) application. You are interested in folders with the names of remote programs or developers (for example, Yandex folders, Mail.ru folders, if you have deleted all applications of these companies).

It's also worth checking the Download folder, and that's where everything you downloaded from the Internet -- presentations, installers, pictures -- is saved by default, and often there are files that you won't need anymore, but they take up space.

You can use a built-in tool in the gallery or the Security app to find duplicate photos, and the system will find the same images and suggest that you delete copies, leaving the original in the best quality, especially for those who often take screenshots or save stickers.

Cleaning through the Engineering Menu and ADB (for Advanced)

For users who want to clean Xiaomi of garbage on a professional level, there are deeper methods, one of which is the use of USB debugging and ADB command line. This allows you to delete the system cache and update files that are not available to the average user.

To do this, you need to turn on the developer mode by clicking 7 times on the build number in the About Phone menu. Then the USB debugging option is activated in the Developer menu. Once connected to the computer, you can use commands to clean the Dalvik cache and system logs.

adb shell pm trim-caches 999999999999

This command is forced to cut the cache of all applications to a minimum, but you need to use it with caution, because after that, the applications can run a little slower on the first run until they cache again.

⚠️ Attention: Use ADB A syntax error or deletion of system folders can lead to unstable work. MIUI Or cyclical reboot. Backup before you start.

Also on the engineering menu (call ##6484##) are memory tests, but they are more for hardware diagnostics than software cleaning. Don't try to format partitions through the engineering menu unless you know exactly what they're responsible for.

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Use of the ADB-Trim-caches command allows you to instantly free up gigabytes of space, but requires a connection to a PC and enable debugging over the USB.

Prevention and automation of cleaning

So you don't have to manually clean your smartphone all the time, you can set up automation. The Security app has a Planner feature, and you can set a schedule, like every Sunday at 3 a.m. when your phone isn't in use.

Automation allows the system to self-close background processes, clean memory and delete temporary files, which not only frees up space, but also has a positive effect on battery autonomy, since the processor is less loaded with background tasks.

It is also recommended to disable auto-save media files in messengers. In the Telegram, WhatsApp and Viber settings, you can prevent saving photos and videos to the gallery. Files will remain in the chat and will be available for viewing, but will not take up space in the shared album and duplicated in the cloud.

Regularly auditing installed applications will help keep the system clean. If you haven't used a game or utility for more than a month, chances are you don't need it.